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Monday, March 1, 2010
17 GOP lawmakers back Morgan for auditor
Dave Yost may have the state Republican Party’s endorsement in the auditor’s race but Rep. Seth Morgan, R-Huber Heights, is showing off some Republican endorsements of his own.
Morgan’s campaign on Monday, March 1, released the names of 17 Republican state legislators who are backing Morgan in the race for the GOP nomination for auditor against Yost, the Delaware County prosecutor.
“It is becoming clearer with each day that Seth Morgan has the people’s endorsement for this race,” House Minority Whip John Adams of Sidney, one of the 17, said in a press release.
Yost’s campaign was not impressed.
“I guess the reason a majority of Seth’s colleagues have not signed on is that he’s only been a legislator for 14 months and Dave has over 90 percent of Republican county auditors on his side,” said Brent Swander, Yost campaign spokesman. There are 46 GOP House members and 21 Republican senators.
Others endorsing Morgan are: Reps. Pete Beck of Mason; Terry Blair of Washington Twp.; Terry Boose of Norwalk; Danny Bubp of West Union; Dave Burke of Marysville; Courtney Combs of Hamilton.
Dave Hall of Killbuck; Cliff Hite of Findlay; Ron Maag of Salem Twp.; Jeff McClain of Upper Sandusky; Margaret Ann Ruhl of Mt. Vernon; Barbara Sears of Sylvania; Joe Uecker of Miami Twp. and Lynn Wachtmann of Napoleon.
Sen. Tim Grendell of Chesterland also has endorsed Morgan.
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TweetSen. Husted, Rep. Letson: Compromise possible on redistricting
The sponsors of competing plans to change how Ohio draws state legislative districts expressed guarded optimism on Monday, March 1, that the House and Senate can agree on a compromise proposal for the November ballot.
“I’m hopeful. I really am,” said Rep. Tom Letson, D-Warren, sponsor of House Joint Resolution 15, that is pending in the Democratic- controlled House.
“I would say it’s possible,” said Sen. Jon Husted, R-Kettering, sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 5, already approved by the GOP-controlled Senate.
Letson and Husted said action is needed within the next two months to 10 weeks. After that, they said, either the Democrats or Republicans will have a better idea of which party is likely to control redistricting under the current system and one or the other one would be unlikely to go along with an overhaul.
Husted’s proposal would do away with the five-member Apportionment Board, made up of the governor, auditor, secretary of state and a legislator from each party. The party that controls two of the three statewide seats on the board controls redistricting. It draws legislative districts after each census.
His plan would instead set up a seven-member commission - governor, auditor, secretary of state, House speaker, Senate president and House and Senate minority leaders. A five-vote supermajority would be required to adopt a redistricting plan. Also, at least two votes would have to come from commission members not in the majority party.
The new commission also would draw U.S. House districts. The legislature now draws the U.S. House districts.
Compactness and competitiveness would be emphasized in drawing new districts under the plan.
Letson’s plan would not change how U.S. House districts are drawn. Letson said his plan “will take the politics out of the reapportionment process.”
It calls for Ohio citizens after each census - including the 2010 census - to submit proposals to the Apportionment Board based on: competitive fairness; political competitiveness; communities of interest and compactness.
The board would administer the process but district lines would be determined by the winner of a public competition using the predetermined criteria.
Challenges would be settled by a judicial tribunal.
Both spoke at a Redistricting Forum Monday in Columbus, sponsored by the Midwest Democracy Network,the League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund and the Money in Politics progrect of Ohio Citizen Action.
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TweetStrickland opens it up for questions
Democrat Ted Strickland, who is running for re-election as governor, kicked off a website in which Ohioans may ask him questions and he’ll post his video response.
Strickland said he’ll pick some questions every week or so and respond. No promises that he’ll answer all the questions or that he’ll pick out the toughest ones.
To submit your question, click here.
In the governor’s race, Strickland is going up against Republican John Kasich, a former Fox News host, Wall Street investment banker and Congressman from Westerville.
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TweetWomen make in-roads on Ohio Supreme Court
In the 207-year history of the Ohio Supreme Court, only seven of the 151 justices have been women, the court noted on Monday, March 1, the beginning of National Women’s History Month.
Florence E. Allen was the first, serving from 1923 to 1934. A second woman didn’t sit on the bench until it wasn’t until Blanche Krupansky joined the bench in 1981. Alice Robie Resnick became the third in 1989 and now the seven-member court has three female justices: Maureen O’Connor, Evelyn Lundberg Stratton and Judith Lanzinger.
Despite the recent in-roads for women, less than 5 percent of the Ohio Supreme Court justices since 1803 have been female. At least it’s a better record than the U.S. Supreme Court which has had only three female justices since its inception in 1790.
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TweetSen. Brown voting record “most liberal” - National Journal
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, really is a liberal, at least according to the National Journal, a Washington, D.C.,- based magazine that keeps a close eye on Congress.
Ratings released on Friday, Feb. 26, by the magazine showed Brown tied with three other Democrats - Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Ben Cardin of Maryland - for the Senate’s most liberal voting record in 2009.
Ohio’s other senator, Republican George Voinovich, ranked closer to the middle. He had the 37th most conservative record on roll call votes.
In the House, Minority Leader John Boehner, R-West Chester, had the most conservative record among area members. Boehner was the 14th most conservative House member, according to the rankings.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Urbana, was 19th most conservative. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, was 117th most conservative and Rep. Mike Turner, R-Centerville, had the 154th most conservative voting record.
Senators and House members were assigned separate scores for roll-call votes on key economy, social and foreign-policy issues during 2009.
To see the ratings, click here.
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